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protected activity.” Id., at 130. The jury found that Murray had es-
tablished his §1514A claim and UBS had failed to prove that it would
have fired Murray even if he had not engaged in protected activity. On
appeal, the Second Circuit vacated the jury’s verdict and remanded for
a new trial. The Second Circuit held that “[r]etaliatory intent is an
element of a section 1514A claim,” and the trial court erred by not in-
structing the jury on Murray’s burden to prove UBS’s retaliatory in-
tent. 43 F. 4th 254, 258, 262–263.
Held: A whistleblower who invokes §1514A must prove that his pro-
tected activity was a contributing factor in the employer’s unfavorable
personnel action, but need not prove that his employer acted with “re-
taliatory intent.” Pp. 7–15.
(a) Section 1514A(a)’s text does not reference or include a “retalia-
tory intent” requirement, and the provision’s mandatory burden-
shifting framework cannot be squared with one. In explaining why,
and consistent with the Second Circuit’s opinion, the Court treats “re-
taliatory intent” as meaning something akin to animus.
Although the Second Circuit and UBS both rely on the word “dis-
criminate” in §1514A(a) to impose a “retaliatory intent” requirement
on whistleblower plaintiffs, the word “discriminate” cannot bear that
weight. First, placement of the word “discriminate” in the section’s
catchall provision suggests that it is meant to capture other adverse
employment actions that are not specifically listed, drawing meaning
from the terms “discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, [and] harass”
rather than imbuing those terms with a new or different meaning. But
even accepting UBS’s argument that “discriminate” relates back to
and characterizes “discharge,” the word “discriminate” simply does not
require retaliatory intent. The “normal definition” of “discrimination”
is “differential treatment.” Babb v. Wilkie, 589 U. S. 399, 405. When
an employer treats a whistleblower differently, and worse, “because
of ” his protected whistleblowing activity, that is actionable discrimi-
nation, and the employer’s lack of “animosity” is “irrelevant.” Bostock
v. Clayton County, 590 U. S. 644, 658, 663. Pp. 7–10.
(b) In addition to having no basis in the statutory text, requiring a
whistleblower to prove his employer’s retaliatory intent would ignore
the statute’s mandatory burden-shifting framework. Burden-shifting
frameworks have long provided a key mechanism for getting at “the
elusive factual question” of intent in employment discrimination cases.
Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust, 487 U. S. 977, 986 (quoting Texas
Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U. S. 248, 255, n. 8). Bur-
den shifting “forc[es] the defendant to come forward with some re-
sponse” to the employee’s circumstantial evidence. St. Mary’s Honor
Center v. Hicks, 509 U. S. 502, 510–511. Congress decided in Sar-
banes-Oxley that the plaintiff ’s burden on intent is only to show that
Cite as: 601 U. S. ____ (2024) 3
Syllabus
SOTOMAYOR, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. ALITO, J.,
filed a concurring opinion, in which BARRETT, J., joined.
Cite as: 601 U. S. ____ (2024) 1
No. 22–660
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I
Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the wake of
the Enron scandal to “ ‘prevent and punish corporate and
criminal fraud, protect the victims of such fraud, preserve
evidence of such fraud, and hold wrongdoers accountable
for their actions.’ ” Lawson v. FMR LLC, 571 U. S. 429, 434
(2014) (quoting S. Rep. No. 107–146, p. 2 (2002) (hereinaf-
ter S. Rep.)). “Of particular concern to Congress was abun-
dant evidence that Enron had succeeded in perpetuating its
massive shareholder fraud in large part due to a ‘corporate
code of silence’ ” that “ ‘discourage[d] employees from report-
ing fraudulent behavior not only to the proper authorities,
such as the FBI and the SEC, but even internally.’ ” 571
U. S., at 435 (quoting S. Rep., at 4–5; alteration in original).
Indeed, employees of Enron who had attempted to report
corporate misconduct internally were often fired.
Congress’ response was 18 U. S. C. §1514A, which pro-
hibits publicly traded companies from retaliating against
employees who report what they reasonably believe to be
instances of criminal fraud or securities law violations. The
provision establishes that no employer may “discharge, de-
mote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any other manner
discriminate against an employee in the terms and condi-
tions of employment because of ” the employee’s protected
whistleblowing activity. §1514A(a). If an employer violates
this provision, the employee can file a complaint with the
Department of Labor seeking reinstatement, back pay,
compensation, and other relief. §§1514A(b)(1)(A), (c). If
there is no final decision from the Secretary of Labor within
180 days, the employee can file suit in federal court seeking
the same relief. §§1514A(b)(1)(B), (c).
If the whistleblower does bring an action in federal court,
Sarbanes-Oxley directs the court to apply the “legal bur-
dens of proof set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, United
States Code”—a provision of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation
Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21).
Cite as: 601 U. S. ____ (2024) 3
II
In 2011, petitioner Trevor Murray was employed as a re-
search strategist at securities firm UBS, within the firm’s
commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) business.
In that role, Murray was responsible for reporting on CMBS
markets to current and future UBS customers. Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations required him
to certify that his reports were produced independently and
accurately reflected his own views. See 17 CFR §242.501(a)
(2022). Murray contends that, despite this requirement of
independence, two leaders of the CMBS trading desk im-
properly pressured him to skew his reports to be more sup-
portive of their business strategies, even instructing Mur-
ray to “clear [his] research articles with the desk” before
publishing them. 1 App. in No. 20–4202 (CA2), p. 254.
Murray reported that conduct to his direct supervisor,
Michael Schumacher, in December 2011 and again in Jan-
uary 2012, asserting that it was “unethical” and “illegal.”
App. 28. Schumacher expressed sympathy for Murray’s sit-
uation but emphasized that it was “very important” that
Murray not “alienate [his] internal client” (i.e., the trading
desk). Ibid. When Murray later informed Schumacher that
the situation with the trading desk “was bad and getting
worse,” as he was being left out of meetings and subjected
to “constant efforts to skew [his] research,” Schumacher
told him that he should just “write what the business line
wanted.” Id., at 29–30. Shortly after that exchange (and
despite having given Murray a very strong performance re-
view just a couple months earlier) Schumacher emailed his
own supervisor and recommended that Murray “be re-
moved from [UBS’s] head count.” Id., at 39. Schumacher
recommended in the alternative that, if the CMBS trading
desk wanted him, Murray could be transferred to a desk
analyst position, where he would not have SEC certification
responsibilities. The trading desk declined to accept Mur-
ray as a transfer, and UBS fired him in February 2012.
Cite as: 601 U. S. ____ (2024) 5
in his firing while UBS had not shown that it would have
taken the same action in the absence of his protected activ-
ity. That burden shifting—and not some separate, heavier
burden on the plaintiff to show “retaliatory intent”—is what
the statute requires.2
C
UBS and its amici argue that, without a retaliatory in-
tent requirement, innocent employers will face liability for
legitimate, nonretaliatory personnel decisions. See Brief
for Respondents 33–34; Brief for Chamber of Commerce of
the United States of America as Amicus Curiae 22–24. UBS
posits a hypothetical where an employee’s whistleblowing
causes a client to end their relationship with the company,
leaving the whistleblower without any work and ultimately
leading to the elimination of the whistleblower’s position.
UBS asserts that “[u]nder petitioner’s view, the employer
would be liable for retaliation, despite the absence of any
intent to retaliate.” Brief for Respondents 34. The statute,
properly understood, does not lead to that result.
The statute’s burden-shifting framework provides that
an employer will not be held liable where it “demonstrates,
by clear and convincing evidence, that [it] would have taken
the same unfavorable personnel action in the absence of ”
the protected behavior. 49 U. S. C. §42121(b)(2)(B)(ii). The
right way to think about that kind of same-action causation
——————
2 UBS also asks this Court to affirm on an alternative basis. UBS
claims that the Second Circuit held that the initial jury instruction on
the contributing-factor element, which allowed the jury to find that Mur-
ray’s protected activity was a contributing factor if it “ ‘tended to affect in
any way UBS’s decision to terminate [his] employment,’ ” independently
required the court to set aside the jury’s verdict. Brief for Respondents
47. UBS is wrong to characterize the Second Circuit’s footnoted discus-
sion of this instruction as an alternative holding. See 43 F. 4th 254, 259,
n. 4 (2022). On remand, the Second Circuit remains free to consider
UBS’s separate argument regarding this initial instruction, but this
Court did not grant certiorari to address that issue.
14 MURRAY v. UBS SECURITIES, LLC
It is so ordered.
Cite as: 601 U. S. ____ (2024) 1
No. 22–660
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* The Court uses the term “retaliatory intent” as a synonym for “ani-
mus.” See ante, at 8. All references in the opinion to “retaliatory intent”
must be understood to carry that meaning.
2 MURRAY v. UBS SECURITIES, LLC